April Messages

Hello, everyone!

Please read your weekly updates below or listen here.

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Announcements

(Today's announcements are for Learning Coaches of students in grades 3-8)

1. With only a few exceptions, LEAP 2025 tests for students in grades 3-8 are next week (May 3-May 7). Download the LEAP letter from the student's Canvas account (Account > Files > Testing Information). The LEAP letter contains the dates, check-in times, and location of the tests. The filename includes the word "leap." (Please look closely.)

Testing occurs at the identified test site every day noted on the two-page letter in the Testing Information folder. Please read the entire letter carefully. Estimated daily test durations are on page 2 of the LEAP letter.

In addition:

• Please ensure your child takes the school laptop and the power cord to the test site each day of testing.

• Refer to this page from the Resource Emporium section of Learning Coach Corner for additional recommendations to prepare for testing. Please read the information on the page before Monday, May 3rd. It addresses topics such as nutrition, hydration, sufficient rest, etc.

• Students will receive a Google form via Remind and in the Canvas Inbox the morning of each test. Complete the form before arriving at the test site so that the check-in process goes smoothly.

• ALERT! If your child has been using a personal computer at home, the school laptop might need to be updated before Monday. Please power up the school laptop, log into it, and leave it active for several hours this weekend (keep logging into it so that it doesn't go to sleep). Doing that will provide enough time for updates to install, and it will prevent issues when testing begins next Monday.

• [Upper Elementary (3-5) Learning Coaches] A Dashboard announcement is posted regarding next week's LEAP 2025 test event. The elementary school leadership team prepared multiple links to resources that should be viewed or read before Monday if you have not done so already. Please go to the Dashboard and review the information.

1. 1. • [Middle School (6-8) Learning Coaches] A recent Dashboard announcement provides the link to a short video from the Middle School Principal about upcoming LEAP 2025 testing for middle school students. Please watch if you have not done so already.

2. [8th grade Learning Coaches] The Updated Individual Graduation Plan (IGP) Survey regarding 9th grade courses is due today, April 30th. A reminder email was sent from the Counselor's Corner course on Wednesday, 4/28/21.

Deadlines/Reminders/Dates

1. School ends on May 20th, which less than three weeks away.

• Refer to this page on our school website for important dates, upcoming events, and school milestones.

• Use the student's Alert Bell Report or your Missing Submissions Report in combination with the grade book to identify unsubmitted assignments. Guide your child to complete those assignments to ensure expected content is learned before the school year is over.

2. Our Virtual Kindergarten Graduation ceremony will be on Friday, May 14th. Please check your Canvas Inbox , read the April 15th message about the ceremony, and submit the requested information by the Monday, May 3rd deadline.

3. Our Seniors will graduate on May 29th!

• The deadline to indicate which ceremony the graduate prefers (i.e., virtual or in-person) is May 3rd.

• Mrs. Martinez is hosting an important Live Session about graduation in the high school auditorium on Monday the 3rd. She provided the link to the auditorium in her Canvas message on Monday, April 26th.

Please ensure your child is reading all communications and taking action as required.

4. [Current 3rd and 4th Grade Learning Coaches] Please discuss next year's optional elective courses with your child, and submit the elective form by the Friday, May 7th deadline. Go to the Counselor's Corner card to access the form in the Announcements section of the homepage.

Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. If your child is taking LEAP 2025 assessments next week, please ensure this week's Live Session recordings are viewed if your child did not attend the sessions live. Teachers used the sessions to prepare and inspire their students for next week's test event. Additional resources are available below:

• "Shake It Off" -- A Parody for Students -- an entertaining YouTube video that gets students pumped up for testing.

• Lumos Learning - A popular test-prep website used by UVA students and recommended by some of our teachers

• 3-8 District Assessments (from Learning Coach Corner) - Suggests best practices to prepare mentally and physically for testing, and provides the link to Louisiana's Department of Education website where LEAP prep resources are located.

2. Read school communications every day. Check twice per day if possible. This is a busy time of year.

3. One last reminder -- Ensure your child takes the school laptop and its power adapter to the LEAP 2025 test site each morning of testing.

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Have a good weekend.

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837, ecardozo@uview.academy, and Remind (preferred)

Hello, everyone!

Please read your weekly updates below or listen here.

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Announcements

1. High School LEAP tests are next week (April 26-April 30). Download the LEAP letter from the student's Canvas account (Account > Files > Testing Information). The LEAP letter contains the dates, check-in times, and location of the tests. It was uploaded last week. The filename includes the word "LEAP" and was uploaded last week. (Look closely at the file names.)

Testing occurs at the identified test site on all of the day(s) noted on the two-page letter in the Testing Information folder. Please read two-page letter carefully.

• Please ensure your child takes the school laptop and the power cord to the test site each day of testing.

• Refer to this page from the Resource Emporium section of Learning Coach Corner for additional recommendations to prepare for testing.

Please Note:

• Students will receive a Google form via Remind and in the Canvas Inbox the morning of each test. Have your child complete the form before arriving at the test site so that the check-in process goes smoothly. Details are in the LEAP letter in the Testing Information folder.

• If your 8th grade child is taking Algebra I, Biology, Geometry, US History, English 1, or English 2, he or she is probably scheduled for LEAP next week. Please look for the High School LEAP letter in the Testing Information folder.

2. [Learning Coaches of Graduating Seniors] Stay on top of school communications about deadlines and requirements for graduation. Mrs. Martinez sent a very important Canvas message on Monday, April 19th.

3. A Virtual Kindergarten Graduation ceremony is scheduled for Friday, May 14th. Details were sent to Learning Coaches on April 15th via a Canvas message. Please check your Canvas Inbox and read the letter so that you can submit the requested information by the May 3rd deadline. Congratulations!

4. [Current 3rd and 4th Grade Learning Coaches] Please read Mrs. Richardson's Elementary Counselor's Corner message (sent Tuesday, 4/20/21) about the optional foreign language elective for the '21-'22 school year. Mrs. Richardson sent the form link in a message yesterday, April 22nd, and you will find the link in the announcements at the top of the Counselor's Corner Card home page as well. Please discuss this optional elective opportunity with your child and submit the form by the Friday, May 7th deadline.

5. Our Seniors will graduate on May 29th! They have the option to participate in a virtual ceremony or our in-person ceremony at the Raising Cane's River Center in Baton Rouge. Please keep your eyes open for a survey about the ceremony option that your graduate wants to participate in. (NOTE: This weekly message was released before the communication was sent with graduation ceremony survey. It might have been sent by the time you read this message.)

Deadlines/Reminders/Dates

1. [Current 5th, 6th, and 7th Grade Learning Coaches] Today (Friday, April 23rd) is the deadline to submit the "...Elective Form - School Year 2021-2022" if you have not done so already. The link to the form is in the announcements section at the top of the Counselor's Corner home page in the student's account.

2. [GRADE 3-8 Learning Coaches] LEAP will be administered to students in grades 3-8 in early May. Download the LEAP test letter* from your child's Canvas student account if your child is scheduled to take LEAP.

* The LEAP letter was uploaded last week and is located in the student's Canvas account. Navigate as follows: Account > Files > Testing Information. Look for a filename that includes "leap." If you have concerns about anything in the test letter, please contact the Test Department at testing@uview.academy. If you indicated that you had concerns about in-person testing but have since reconsidered, please send an email to testing@uview.academy as quickly as possible.

3. School ends in less than four weeks on May 20th. (Much sooner for graduating seniors.) Refer to this page on our school website for important dates, upcoming events, and school milestones.

Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. If your child is scheduled to take a LEAP test, remember the following LEAP prep resources are available in addition to the resources that are being provided by your children's teachers:

• Lumos Learning - A popular test-prep website used by UVA students and recommended by some of our teachers

• 3-8 District Assessments (from Learning Coach Corner) - Includes an overview about district assessments; recommended best practices in preparation for testing (including tips for just prior and during the test week); and provides the link to Louisiana's Department of Education website where their LEAP prep resources are located.

• High School District Assessments (from Learning Coach Corner) - Includes an overview about district assessments; recommended best practices in preparation for testing (including tips for just prior and during the test week); and provides the link to Louisiana's Department of Education website where their LEAP prep resources are located.

2. Run a daily Missing Submissions report and check the grade book for assignments with temporary 50% scores that are not on the report. Guide your child to put in extended time to get on pace within the next one-two weeks so that they can benefit from teacher-led instruction and reviews as we approach LEAP and the end of the school year. Remember, less than four weeks remain in school. (Only two weeks remain for graduating seniors.)

• The Alert Bell is in the Canvas Student account

• The Missing Submissions report is in your Canvas Observer account.

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Enjoy the weekend!

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837, ecardozo@uview.academy, and Remind (preferred)

Hello!

Today's message is short (who-hooo!) because I sent a message at the beginning of the week. Here is the link for the audio recording of the message.

Announcements

[GRADE 3-12 Learning Coaches] Unless your LEAP survey response in March indicated your child will not attend testing, test letters were uploaded into students' accounts for students in the following categories:

• Upper elementary school (3-5)

• Middle school (6-8)

• Students taking Algebra I, Biology, Geometry, US History, English 1, English 2, and/or English 3 (only a few students for Eng. 3 retakes)

If your child falls into one or more of the categories above and you have not read the letter yet, please log into the student's account (not the Observer account) and navigate as follows:

Account > Files > Testing Information

The relevant file name in the Testing Information folder includes the word "leap". Please look carefully for the file. It was uploaded Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of this week.

If you do not see a recently-uploaded "leap" file in the student's Testing Information folder, submit this Google Form and I will let the Testing Department know. (Request: Please check for the file yourself. Many of our students are not seeing the file when they do this exercise for their parents.)

If you have concerns about anything in the test letter, please contact the Test Department at the email at the bottom of the letter (i.e., testing@uview.academy).

NOTE:

If you indicated previously that you had concerns about in-person testing but have reconsidered or have questions, please send an email to testing@uview.academy for assistance.

Deadlines/Reminders

[Current 5th, 6th, and 7th Grade Learning Coaches] Please discuss next year's electives with your child and complete the "...Elective Form - School Year 2021-2022" if you have not done so already. The link to the form is located in the announcements section at the top of the Counselor's Corner card in the Student's account. The deadline is April 23rd.

Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. Children can get tired of being in school around this time of year, especially after a week off for Spring Break. When the weather starts to warm up and summer months are on the horizon, staying focused on schoolwork can start to become a huge effort. (Do you remember that antsy feeling?) Finding ways to keep children motivated and to even "step it up" could be challenging for you, too, at this point. Perhaps you need a little inspiration as well.

Check out the topic "Motivating a Student to Complete School Work" in the Resource Emporium section of your Learning Coach Corner to read some interesting information about motivation and ways to identify the type of motivation that resonates with your child. You might find some nuggets of gold during your 10-minute read.

2. Overdue assignments can be dismissed from the Alert Bell report even if they have not been completed. If the missing assignments list is empty in the student's account, click on the "Dismissed" tab at the top of the Alert Bell report to see if missing assignments are listed there. The Missing Submissions report in your Observer account does not allow assignments to be dismissed. Running that report is recommended.

To identify overdue assignments, use a Missing Submissions report in combination with the grade book to identify temporary 50% scores that are not on the report. (Occasionally an assignment with a temporary 50% score does not appear on the Missing Submissions report.) Remember -- Temporary 50% scores are assigned when activities are more than two weeks overdue.

• The Alert Bell is in the Canvas Student account

• The Missing Submissions report is in your Canvas Observer account.

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That's it for today. Have a good weekend!

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837, ecardozo@uview.academy, and Remind (preferred)

Hello and Welcome Back!

I hope you and your family enjoyed Spring Break. This is a special After-Spring-Break edition of our weekly messages to ensure you are up to date. (Use this link if you'd like to listen to the message first, and return here to access any links that are referenced in the audio message.)

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Announcements

1. Daily assignments and Live Sessions resume today -- April 12th.

2. [Current 5th, 6th, and 7th Grade Learning Coaches] An opportunity to select next year's middle school electives is coming very soon. Keep your eyes open for a survey in the Counselor's Corner card tomorrow (Tuesday, 4/13). It will be due by April 23rd. (Messages about tomorrow's survey link were sent to 5th, 6th, and 7th grade students this morning. Please read the message for details.)

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Deadlines/Reminders

1. [HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR Learning Coaches]

• Tomorrow (Tuesday, 4/13) is the deadline for the Superintendent's graduation survey to be submitted. Here is the survey link if the survey has not been submitted yet.

• Please ensure your senior is reading Mrs. Martinez's Counselor's Corner messages as they are sent and that required actions are being taken. This is a busy time.

2. [HIGH SCHOOL Learning Coaches] A Live Session survey is due tomorrow (Tuesday, 4/13) from students who are taking high school courses. Here is the link.

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Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. A week-long break can cause a student to get out of the school mindset. Please ensure your child resumes daily routines that have been established for school. For some tips on strengthening daily school routines in your household, scroll down this page and expand "(4-1-21) Weekly Message From Your Learning Coach Partner."

2. Reminder -- Students can dismiss overdue assignments from the Alert Bell report accidentally (or intentionally). If the missing assignments list is empty in the student's account, click on the "Dismissed" tab at the top of the bell report to see if missing assignments are listed there. The Missing Submissions report in your Observer account does not allow assignments to be dismissed.

Use the Missing Submissions report and the grade book (for assignments with temporary 50% scores that are not on the report) to identify the overdue assignments. Temporary 50% scores are assigned for activities that are more than two weeks overdue

• The Alert Bell is in the Canvas Student account

• The Missing Submissions report is in your Canvas Observer account.

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I hope those reminders and tips get you back in the groove after a week away. Look for our standard weekly message this Friday.

Have a good week!

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837, ecardozo@uview.academy, and Remind (preferred)

Hello Learning Coaches!

This week's announcements, reminders and deadlines, and tips are below. A recorded message is not available this week. My apologies.

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Announcements

1. Spring Break begins tomorrow (Friday, April 2nd). Students will resume daily assignments on April 12th.

2. When you submitted your Records Update Form, did you change a phone number or email address for any of the adults who have a Remind account? If so, then you need to update Remind as well. We cannot change your account once it's been created, but it's easy for you to do. Just follow the instructions for scenario #6 on this page if you haven't updated your Remind account already.

3. [HIGH SCHOOL] Recently, a link to a Live Session survey was sent to students who take high school courses. Please ensure your child completes the survey by Tuesday, April 13th.

4. Our April 1st Info Session will be rescheduled. A submitted question about getting students back on pace is addressed in the "Tips" section below. The question survey remains open here.

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Deadlines/Reminders

District testing information regarding dates and locations will be made available to you after Spring Break. Stay connected with all school communications.

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Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. Spring Break provides at least five days of no new assignments on the Calendar. If your child is behind, please use this upcoming opportunity to guide your child to get back on track.

A suggested strategy for getting your child back on pace follows:

1. Have your child treat the week as a regular school week (excluding Live Sessions, although watching un-viewed recordings during those times could be part of the schedule if that's appropriate ).

2. Set the expectation that your child will begin assignments at a specific time each day.

3. Generate a Missing Submissions report (see important information in #2 about the report) and cross-reference the grade book to identify missing assignments.

4. Create a written or typed schedule that identifies daily assignments for the week. Do this before the recovery exercise begins so that a path to completion is clear.

5. Include reasonable breaks during the day.

6. Identify daily rewards* for completing the day's task list.

7. Have the written (or typed), agreed-upon assignment list available at the start of each day for your child.

8. Require your child to mark through, check off, or otherwise indicate when assignments have been completed on the daily list. (Deleting the item from an electronic document is not an option unless you have a copy of the document yourself. You need to see the list to verify completion.)

9. Each day, verify completion of the assignments by reviewing the Calendar, grade book, and Modules page. Run the Missing Submissions report in your Observer account to ensure the completed items are no longer listed. (Consider doing a midday checkpoint to keep your child on task.)

10. Grant earned rewards or redirect your child to complete unfinished assignments for the day.

11. Be consistent in setting daily expectations and follow through with your tasks of monitoring and holding your child accountable to complete the assignments.

*Rewards do not have to be monetary. Ask your child for ideas. For example:

• Earn stars or stickers or other recognitions on a poster board or refrigerator sign for a child who appreciates that kind of recognition.

• Earn points toward special privileges that will be granted mid-week and/or at the end of the week or on the weekend.

• Earn a special treat or meal.

• Get a pat on the back or other acknowledgment from you indicating that you are pleased with the progress that is being made

• Etc.

Additional suggestions:

• Make the daily assignment list reasonable so that your child has a chance of succeeding, but balance that with the expectation of doing extra work as well.

• Whatever cannot be scheduled reasonably during Spring Break should be scheduled for the school days following Spring Break until the overdue assignments have been completed. (Remember, lessons will resume on April 12th.)

• After your child is on pace, maintain the routines that you establish for verifying completion of assignments for the remainder of the semester.

• Refer to the University View Academy Parents Facebook page for a variety of excellent daily practices from fellow Learning Coaches. The March 31st post is from a parent who asked for suggestions about ways to verify daily work for her 4th and 6th graders. The replies to her post contain a variety of proven practices.

• Explore website blockers to limit where your child surfs during school time. Some of our students have recommended Get Cold Turkey. This is not an endorsement of the app. Evaluate it for yourselves. The goal is to identify safe ways to keep your child focused on schoolwork when using the computer to complete assignments.

• Get additional ideas for providing the daily monitoring and support that your child needs in The Orientation Shoppe of your Learning Coach Corner. Start with this page.

2. Students can dismiss overdue assignments from the Alert Bell report accidentally or intentionally. If the missing assignments list is empty in the student's account, click on the "Dismissed" tab at the top of the bell report to see if missing assignments are listed there. The Missing Submissions report in your Observer account does not allow assignments to be dismissed.

Use the Missing Submissions report and the grade book (for assignments with temporary 50% scores that are not on the report) to identify the overdue assignments. Temporary 50% scores are assigned for activities that are more than two weeks overdue

• The Alert Bell is in the Canvas Student account

• The Missing Submissions report is in your Canvas Observer account.

3.In addition to the Lumos Learning website for LEAP study and practice resources, you will find links to the Louisiana Department of Education's website in this section of Resource Emporium of your Learning Coach Corner.

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As you know, I was not available yesterday due to a family emergency. Many of you responded with kind messages that I got a glimpse of when the notifications flashed on my phone. I have not been able to read them yet but I will, and I will respond to you soon. Thank you for your kind expressions.

Please enjoy a safe Spring Break. If you celebrate any of the holidays that are upon us, may you and your family experience joy.

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837, ecardozo@uview.academy, and Remind (preferred)